Muharram: The Commemoration Of Imam Hussain

A large number of those who perform the various rituals associated with Muharram are the ones who are in most cases very poor and the downtrodden. A sense of empathy and the ability to relate with those who were historically oppressed gives them a sense of empowerment. says Ayesha Begum.

Syria hear me

Over Hussain’s mansion what night has fallen

I alone am left to tell my brother’s story

On my brother’s body what dawn has risen

Weep for my brother

World, weep for Hussain

(Agha Shahid Ali)

The angst of remembrance, like the burden of history, leaves the grieved heart with no choice for reticence. The one who is a witness to memory, must be more eloquent in his or her act of remembrance. Undoubtedly, I have felt that grief is always private, and so are our expressions manifested in myriad ways. At the same time, the one who mourns in silence is never bereft of eloquence, but consciously transfuses his or her memory as a narrative to be reiterated over time. Muharram, is considered one of the most pious months according to the Islamic calendar, as well as marks the beginning of a New Year. The sacredness of the month has a long trajectory in the Abrahamic tradition, even prior to the advent of Islam. However, it offers a new point of departure, in the culmination of the battle of Karbala and the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, the grandson of the holy prophet, Muhammad.

Modernity did infuse a kind of discomfort, or an uneasy equation with tradition and traditional practices. Seen in that light, the idea of martyrdom can often confound the sensibilities of the modern man.

The beginning however not only marks a continuation but demands an admixture of bitter-sweet emotions. Modernity did infuse a kind of discomfort, or an uneasy equation with tradition and traditional practices. Seen in that light, the idea of martyrdom can often confound the sensibilities of the modern man. Not to forget, the emotion generated can often trigger a mawkish, if not a crude response, born out of the dis-ease of the palpable presence of religion intruding into the public space, from what had generally been conceived as an essentially private domain.

Consequently, the popular media representations of the commemoration in the public mind, was etched with only a singularly dominant image of self torture and flagellation, in relation to the entire narrative of Muharram. Such practices generated a kind of mass hysteria, and often seemed outlandish, if not barbaric, that further disseminated a distorted message.

My earliest memories of Muharram , goes back to the time I was a child listening to the stories of Karbala from my maternal grandmother. I remember her weeping every time she spoke of the event, but as a child I could never understand the gravity of the matter. It was more of a peculiar habit of old women turning emotional about anything that was associated with religion. However, admittedly, as a Sunni Muslim, a large part of my life revolved around some of the popular misconceptions that were construed around the event of Muharram. Somehow, Muharram, especially the event of Ashura, (10th day of Muharram) came to be associated as an event exclusively commemorated only in the Shia tradition. I remember myself answering to a non Muslim friend once, when asked about Muharram, “You see, we (Sunnis) do not celebrate Muharram.” As such, the sectarian tendency found itself most manifested during the time of Muharram as the event came to be recognised along an essentialist discourse. Consequently, the popular media representations of the commemoration in the public mind, was etched with only a singularly dominant image of self torture and flagellation, in relation to the entire narrative of Muharram. Such practices generated a kind of mass hysteria, and often seemed outlandish, if not barbaric, that further disseminated a distorted message.

The historical narrative of the battle of Karbala dates back to 680 AD. The then Caliph, Yazid was the head of the Ummayad Dynasty, who reigned terror and tyranny. Aware of the importance of Imam Hussain, Yazid demanded unconditional allegiance to secure his power. However, as an exemplar of virtue and the paragon of justice, Imam Hussain defied not only Yazid’s order, but was ready to face the consequences, that culminated in the 10 days battle of Karbala (a desert in modern day Iraq). Imam Hussain along with 72 members, including his family and supporters, found themselves confronted with an army of thousands. Knowing, that death was imminent, Imam Hussain and his followers, chose to die rather than submit to the oppression and dictatorship of Yazid. The battle of course led to the entire massacre of the family of the Prophet, with the death of Imam Hussain on the 10th day of Muharram, of what is known as the day of Ashura.

Surely, ours is an age where death is almost hyper visibly present and wars and conflicts rampant, such that the very gory reality has been normalised as just another aspect of modern life. Why then should it elicit any cathartic response on the part of the larger global community?

This event is recognised as the most tragic event in the history of Islam. One may then ask what is so special about this tragic demise in particular, that would ‘awaken the sympathy of the coldest reader?’ (Edward Gibbon). Surely, ours is an age where death is almost hyper visibly present and wars and conflicts rampant, such that the very gory reality has been normalised as just another aspect of modern life. Why then should it elicit any cathartic response on the part of the larger global community? My personal reading of this historical event brings me to an understanding that the semantics of this narrative is not simplistic. To see it merely as just another religious war, pertaining only to Islam is a misreading of the entire narrative. From one perspective, the commemoration of the Ashura and the mourning rituals associated with it are deeply significant for all Muslims, but particularly the Shia community.

As part of a minority community, the different rituals pertaining to Muharram gives them a strong sense of community and solidarity.

As part of a minority community, the different rituals pertaining to Muharram gives them a strong sense of community and solidarity. At the same time, a large number of those who perform the various rituals associated with Muharram are the ones who are in most cases very poor and the downtrodden. A sense of empathy and the ability to relate with those who were historically oppressed gives them a sense of empowerment. However, from the larger perspective, the event of Karbala has socio-ethical importance. Karbala becomes the site of resistance to oppression that becomes an ahistorical symbol that transcends time, space and culture. It is for this reason that the Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Erdogan gave an Ashura speech, where he noted that, “Karbala is a sign of unity, everybody agrees on the principles of it, nobody supports the killing, nobody takes the side of the killers”. It is in fact, interesting to note the various micro narratives that have got associated with the events at Karbala.

In the Indian Subcontinent, there is a small community of Hindus who commemorate the event of Karbala and mourn the martyrdom of Imam Hussain. This group call themselves the Hussaini Brahmins, and although only a small sect, they too perform many of the remembrance and mourning rituals during the month of Muharram.

In the Indian Subcontinent, there is a small community of Hindus who commemorate the event of Karbala and mourn the martyrdom of Imam Hussain. This group call themselves the Hussaini Brahmins, and although only a small sect, they too perform many of the remembrance and mourning rituals during the month of Muharram. This group draws their lineage from Rahib Dutt, who was the sole survivor of his group of ten members who claim to have fought and died for the cause of Imam Hussain. In fact, Premchand’s play ‘Karbala’, focuses on this group of Hussaini Brahmins, fighting alongside of Imam Hussain. Therefore, one recognises how the Karbala metaphor has transmitted over various cultures to assume a universality of approach.

For a literature student, the entire narrative of Karbala has in fact a literary import. This literary tradition is most noticeable in the Shia Tradition, in the assemblies known as Majlis. This year, I had the opportunity of attending a majlis myself. These gatherings are a constant reminder of not only the main event, but different other sub topics associated with Karbala. Although, these take place for the entire 40 days of the month of Muharram, the first ten days are of special significance, each day devoted to the martyrdom of the different members from the family of the Prophet. Dressed in black, the mourners literally and symbolically wear their grief with occasional outbursts of wailing and rhythmic beating of the chest.

As an outsider, this display of piety and emotion can seem disturbing, if not disconcerting. At the same time, one cannot completely do away with the intensity of the emotion that is automatically triggered in the audience, by the power of rhetoric.

As an outsider, this display of piety and emotion can seem disturbing, if not disconcerting. At the same time, one cannot completely do away with the intensity of the emotion that is automatically triggered in the audience, by the power of rhetoric. It is fascinating to witness how the tragedy is narrated with acute details to the pangs of thirst, the horrors pertaining to the massacre, without any resort to euphemism. It is as if there is an almost deliberate attempt to vest the event with a kind of charged rhetoric that assumes its own kind of poetics. The facial expressions of the narrator, the gestures as well as the act of narration itself becomes almost theatrical (not in its derogatory sense) and folkloric in the ritual of mourning. One encounters in these events deep literary conventions deployed in the act of narration. This is the reason that the spectacularly visual symbolism of piety as in the image of the decorated taziya (coffin), is coupled with the oral literary tradition of marsiyas and nohas (poems of lament, elegies).

To see mourning as simply the fate of the victim, is to miss out the entire point. The philosophy of crying must not be seen as a delimiting factor, as a sign of weakness, as one has generally come to associate in our wider cultural representations.

The literary tradition is evoked not only in the remembrance of the Martyrdom of Imam Hussain and his followers, but also in the different tales surrounding Muharram. It is in these majlis that one gets to hear of the stories surrounding the Horse of Imam Hussain, of the love of a Christian businessman, giving up his wealth for the sake of Imam Hussain etc. It is in the preservation of these micro narratives that make the ritual of mourning of special significance. Moreover, it is the idea of grief, sorrow and pain that finds itself most ubiquitously manifested in the narrative of Muharram. However, as the notable scholar Talal Asad notes, conceptions of cruelty, pain and torture change across cultural contexts, but its polemics in reference to Muharram has to be seen from a wider context. To see mourning as simply the fate of the victim, is to miss out the entire point. The philosophy of crying must not be seen as a delimiting factor, as a sign of weakness, as one has generally come to associate in our wider cultural representations. On the other hand, it could be seen as a weapon of reclaiming agency, as a counter narrative to oppression. Moreover, these narratives are reiterated every year as an act of remembrance, to never forget the tragedy that befell the family of the Prophet. At the same time, to understand and fully grasp the importance of Karbala, one must not forget that it was the entire lived life of Imam Hussain, with the culmination of his final act of martyrdom on Ashura, that one can understand the dialectics offered by the Hussaini paradigm. As a valiant person, who refused to gain material benefits by succumbing to the Statist(or otherwise) oppression, Imam Hussain exemplified and upholded the ideals of ethics, transnationally. The event also becomes of special significance in our contexts and times, when essentialist, nationalist and homogeneous identities are constantly being drawn. In the words of the venerated scholar Syed Ali Naqi, (quoting Imam Hussain) on the importance of Imam Hussain’s sacrifice, “You who celebrate my [Hussain] commemoration and revive my remembrance: its outcome should also be that you are aware of my goal. Strive to follow this[goal] in your practice. Remember! I do not belong to any particular group. Only the one who reflects on my principles and perspective and learns the lesson from it could benefit from me.”

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Ayesha Begum she graduated from Jamia Milia (Delhi) and post graduated from Presidency University, Kolkata, India. Amused by the peculiar idiosyncrasies in others and herself, she allows herself to be observant about minute details. She enjoys reading, writing, listening to music and poetry makes her survive cynicism.Although loves the company of food and good humour, she prefers mostly to be a recluse, musing in private.